Today we want to start to look at the nature of the atonement, and there are two aspects to examine, the first and the one we will look at today: Christ's obedience and the second, what we will look at on Good Friday: Christ suffering.
The Scriptures tell us in Hebrews 4:15- "For we do not have a high priest that is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect was tempted as we are yet without sin.
I Corinthians 1:30 - "And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption..."
Philippians 3:9 - the goal of Paul, "and be found in HIm, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, byt that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
Christ had to live a perfect life, He had to live in the perfect will of God, if He did not there is no life, there is no prefect obedience, there is no redemption, nothing to be imparted to me. Christ's obedience and fulfillment of all righteousness is what will be imparted to me, this is not simply being morally good, or just not doing those small acts of "sin," it is the miracle that I am made righteous because of Christ, because He did what I could never be able to do.
So the question today as we look at this aspect of the atonement is, are you still trying to earn it, are you still trying with all your might, by yourself, to be good enough to earn the approval of the King. The truth is that we will never be able to, it is why the atonement is such a great truth, Christ earns it for us, because HE was spotless.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
About Me
- Fellowship Church Lubbock
- We are not perfect, but we have been saved by the one who is. He did it by grace alone, through faith alone, on the basis of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone, revealed infallibly by the Scripture alone.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
The Necessity of the Atonement
Wayne Grudem, poses a great question in his systematic theology book, was there any other way for God to save human beings than by sending His Son to die in our place?
I think to answer that question, we have to first realize that God did not have to save anyone, He could have chosen in His perfect justice to send each and every one of us to the rightful judgement awaiting us, just as He did with the angels that rebelled along with Lucifer. But here is the great news and the news that will cause us to rejoice, once God decided in His great mercy to save sinners, the atonement was absolutely necessary, and we will look at several Scriptures that will point us to this great truth. The atonement was not absolutely necessary, but once God chose to save people, the atonement and death of Christ were the only way.
The Scriptures are going to show us that this is the only way: Like we saw yesterday, Romans 2:26- "IT was to show that His righteousness at the present time, so that HE might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
Hebrews 9:22-23 - "Indeed, under the Law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood their is no forgiveness of sin. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with rites, but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these."
Hebrews 9:25-26 - "Not was it to offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy place every year with blood not his own, for then HE would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, HE has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."
Hebrews 10:4-6 - "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, 'Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have your prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Behold I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'"
Christ was the only way, there is no other way, it was absolutely what had to be done. And there is no other way to heaven, but through His blood, and faith in Him.
Tomorrow we will look at Christ's obedience for us in His life and in His death.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
I think to answer that question, we have to first realize that God did not have to save anyone, He could have chosen in His perfect justice to send each and every one of us to the rightful judgement awaiting us, just as He did with the angels that rebelled along with Lucifer. But here is the great news and the news that will cause us to rejoice, once God decided in His great mercy to save sinners, the atonement was absolutely necessary, and we will look at several Scriptures that will point us to this great truth. The atonement was not absolutely necessary, but once God chose to save people, the atonement and death of Christ were the only way.
The Scriptures are going to show us that this is the only way: Like we saw yesterday, Romans 2:26- "IT was to show that His righteousness at the present time, so that HE might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
Hebrews 9:22-23 - "Indeed, under the Law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood their is no forgiveness of sin. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with rites, but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these."
Hebrews 9:25-26 - "Not was it to offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy place every year with blood not his own, for then HE would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, HE has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."
Hebrews 10:4-6 - "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, 'Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have your prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Behold I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'"
Christ was the only way, there is no other way, it was absolutely what had to be done. And there is no other way to heaven, but through His blood, and faith in Him.
Tomorrow we will look at Christ's obedience for us in His life and in His death.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
Monday, April 18, 2011
The Atonement
Atonement - the work that Christ did in His life and death to earn our salvation.
This week as we look forward to Easter Sunday I want to take some time to really think and dwell on the implications of the atonement. What does it really mean? What it necessary for Christ to die? My aim is that this week is that our spirits are quickened to think deeply about the work of Christ on the cross, that as we do Easter Sunday would be all the more wonderful, all the more beautiful, and cause us to worship all the more.
The first question that we want to aim as we move toward good Friday, what was the cause of the atonement. This question and the next two days will set a foundation to understand how important this work of Christ really is.
The Scriptures will point to two main reasons as causes for the atonement: the LOVE and the JUSTICE of God. The problem that we are running into over the last few years has been the desire, or rather the misunderstanding of the character of God. We have become a culture that has defined God by one attribute and that is love. YES!! God is love, but He is so much more, He is justice, righteous, holy, and when we fail to recognize these characteristics as a part of God, then we ultimately diminish who He is and the weight of the atonement.
Romans 3:23-25-"For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOd, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins."
The wrath of God toward sin had to be satisfied so in His love for His people, and as a result of His holiness and justice He sent Jesus to die on that cross.
THis week as we move toward the cross on Friday and to the glorious resurrection on Sunday take time to meditate on God as just and love and may that increase your gratitude for the salvation Christ offers.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
This week as we look forward to Easter Sunday I want to take some time to really think and dwell on the implications of the atonement. What does it really mean? What it necessary for Christ to die? My aim is that this week is that our spirits are quickened to think deeply about the work of Christ on the cross, that as we do Easter Sunday would be all the more wonderful, all the more beautiful, and cause us to worship all the more.
The first question that we want to aim as we move toward good Friday, what was the cause of the atonement. This question and the next two days will set a foundation to understand how important this work of Christ really is.
The Scriptures will point to two main reasons as causes for the atonement: the LOVE and the JUSTICE of God. The problem that we are running into over the last few years has been the desire, or rather the misunderstanding of the character of God. We have become a culture that has defined God by one attribute and that is love. YES!! God is love, but He is so much more, He is justice, righteous, holy, and when we fail to recognize these characteristics as a part of God, then we ultimately diminish who He is and the weight of the atonement.
Romans 3:23-25-"For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOd, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins."
The wrath of God toward sin had to be satisfied so in His love for His people, and as a result of His holiness and justice He sent Jesus to die on that cross.
THis week as we move toward the cross on Friday and to the glorious resurrection on Sunday take time to meditate on God as just and love and may that increase your gratitude for the salvation Christ offers.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
God is Eternal
There may be no harder concept to wrap our minds around then the eternality of God. I guess we could define it like this, "God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in His own being, and HE sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time." Grudem
We see this in Scripture in verses like Psalm 90:2 - "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."
Job 36:26 - "the number of His years is unsearchable."
To try and wrap our minds around the fact that God has always been, there has never been a moment when God has not existed, perfectly and completely in His triune being, can be a mountain to climb. But today I want to make a few quick remarks on why this doctrine is so important to the Christian and what encouragement and hope it offers to us as we strive in sanctification.
One thing that we must remember is that time does not change God. You and I change with time, we go from '80's big hair to whatever the current style is (well most of us), we grow up, we used to think that a big fat man in a red suit magically came down our chimney and put presents under our tree. We change our minds, what we thought was cool, acceptable, tolerant, etc, changes as we get older. This is not so with God!!! Time does not change Him, it has no effect on His being, perfection, purposes or promises. God never learns new things, He is not surprised by new trends or discoveries. He knows all things, past, present, and future. This is a crucial point for the believer, do we trust that God has it in HIs control and that though HE sees all time in the present, (HE sits above time), He still actively works in time and in the situations of life.
God created time, when He created the universe therefore He is not restricted as we are to a succession of moments, but rather God sees all, and is in all, His sovereign purposes will come to pass, every knee will bow and tongue will confess that He is Lord.
Yes, God's eternity can be something that we cannot grasp, but let us not write it off and never contemplate what that means for the regenerate, but rather let's meditate on His eternality, and let us stand in awe of how great He is.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
We see this in Scripture in verses like Psalm 90:2 - "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."
Job 36:26 - "the number of His years is unsearchable."
To try and wrap our minds around the fact that God has always been, there has never been a moment when God has not existed, perfectly and completely in His triune being, can be a mountain to climb. But today I want to make a few quick remarks on why this doctrine is so important to the Christian and what encouragement and hope it offers to us as we strive in sanctification.
One thing that we must remember is that time does not change God. You and I change with time, we go from '80's big hair to whatever the current style is (well most of us), we grow up, we used to think that a big fat man in a red suit magically came down our chimney and put presents under our tree. We change our minds, what we thought was cool, acceptable, tolerant, etc, changes as we get older. This is not so with God!!! Time does not change Him, it has no effect on His being, perfection, purposes or promises. God never learns new things, He is not surprised by new trends or discoveries. He knows all things, past, present, and future. This is a crucial point for the believer, do we trust that God has it in HIs control and that though HE sees all time in the present, (HE sits above time), He still actively works in time and in the situations of life.
God created time, when He created the universe therefore He is not restricted as we are to a succession of moments, but rather God sees all, and is in all, His sovereign purposes will come to pass, every knee will bow and tongue will confess that He is Lord.
Yes, God's eternity can be something that we cannot grasp, but let us not write it off and never contemplate what that means for the regenerate, but rather let's meditate on His eternality, and let us stand in awe of how great He is.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Omnipresence
God is unlimited and infinite with respect to time, He is also unlimited with respect to space. God's omnipresence can be defined like this:
God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with His whole being, yet God acts differently in different places.
There are few verses in the Scriptures that communicate this principle better then Psalm 139:7-10 - "Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
There is nowhere in the universe where God is not found. He is not there in part but with His whole being He is present everywhere. He is not defined by spatial dimensions, He is not defined by His creation, but rather there is no place or time that can contain our God. We must guard from thinking that He is just super big, and that HE simply covers every area, that would mean that only part of Him is in one place and another part over there. No, God is everywhere present actively working.
This should give us confidence that there is no place that grants special access to God, rather HE is with us always. There does not have to be two or three gathered to pray or for Him to be present, He is already present. May we draw confidence and security that He is with us.
Herman Bavinck, in the Doctrine of God, sums up this doctrine like this:
"When you wish to do something evil, you retire from the public into your house where no enemy may see you; from those places or your house which are open and visible to the eyes of men you remove yourself into your room; even in your room you fear some witnesses from another quarter; you retire into your heart, there you meditate: HE is more inward than your heart. Wherever, therefore, you shall have fled, there HE is. From yourself, whither will you flee? Will you not follow yourself wherever you flee? But since there is One more inward even than yourself, there is no place where you may flee from God angry but to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither you may flee. WIll you flee from Him? FLEE UNTO HIM!!
May that give you joy in who you serve today.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with His whole being, yet God acts differently in different places.
There are few verses in the Scriptures that communicate this principle better then Psalm 139:7-10 - "Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
There is nowhere in the universe where God is not found. He is not there in part but with His whole being He is present everywhere. He is not defined by spatial dimensions, He is not defined by His creation, but rather there is no place or time that can contain our God. We must guard from thinking that He is just super big, and that HE simply covers every area, that would mean that only part of Him is in one place and another part over there. No, God is everywhere present actively working.
This should give us confidence that there is no place that grants special access to God, rather HE is with us always. There does not have to be two or three gathered to pray or for Him to be present, He is already present. May we draw confidence and security that He is with us.
Herman Bavinck, in the Doctrine of God, sums up this doctrine like this:
"When you wish to do something evil, you retire from the public into your house where no enemy may see you; from those places or your house which are open and visible to the eyes of men you remove yourself into your room; even in your room you fear some witnesses from another quarter; you retire into your heart, there you meditate: HE is more inward than your heart. Wherever, therefore, you shall have fled, there HE is. From yourself, whither will you flee? Will you not follow yourself wherever you flee? But since there is One more inward even than yourself, there is no place where you may flee from God angry but to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither you may flee. WIll you flee from Him? FLEE UNTO HIM!!
May that give you joy in who you serve today.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
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